Supporting primary students with disabilities and neurological differences in developing digital thinking skills through an inclusive game-making club

Abstract

Like many education systems around the world, Australian schools are working towards a better understanding of how to transition to a more inclusive system of schooling. As part of this philosophical shift, teachers are looking for new ways to support students living with disabilities and neurological differences. Strength and interest-based programs are seen by some educators and researchers as a particularly fruitful avenue for engaging and motivating learners. An example of harnessing the strengths and interests of many students with disabilities and differences is the use of game making. Through designing and coding digital games, students are provided with a culturally meaningful context for teaching the digital thinking skills that underpin coding. Digital thinking skills include design thinking, systems thinking and computational thinking. Collaboratively developing games also provides a rich context for developing collaborative social skills such as collective decision-making, negotiating and perspective taking. To highlight the power of this context, this chapter shares a case study of an inclusive game-making club that brought together students aged between 7 and 12 years old from a mainstream school and a specialist school. Regardless of which school they belonged, all students in this club were positioned as game developers working together in small groups. The comprehensive game-making software Clickteam Fusion 2.5 Developer Edition (Clickteam, ClickTeam fusion (Version 2.5 Developer Edition) [Software]. https://www.clickteam.com/clickteam-fusion-2-5-developer, 2013) was introduced as the development platform for coding the games, for editing graphics and for mixing sound. This platform was strategically selected as it provided the coding environment and tools to replicate the experiences of modern collaborative game design teams while providing an accessible and inclusive interface. In detailing the structures, challenges and solutions in breaking down the barriers of segregated education, examples of strategies and supports are shared to illustrate the possibilities of inclusive game-making clubs. The affordances of the Abilities Based Learning and Education Support (ABLES) for Digital Literacy are discussed as a means for assessing students with complex disabilities and differences developing digital thinking skills as part of this project.